Message From The Chairman

Message

Message From The Chairman

I am honored to serve as the 2019/2020 Chair of the Silicon Valley Central Chamber of Commerce.

What an exciting time for our Chamber of Commerce!

Formerly known as the Santa Clara Chamber of Commerce, we have been serving the businesses in the Silicon Valley for well over 70 years.

We have a strong history of innovation, collaboration, making bold decisions, and being leaders in the business community.

While I am excited to work with such a solid group of community board members, I am also humbled to be following in the path of those who preceded me as Chair; such community hero’s as Jan Nordmo and Joe Siecinski, the most recent chairs, but also the many strong business leaders who have led the chamber for all of its 70 years.

I love the work of the chamber of commerce. In fact, I have been a Chamber Board member for over 25 years. This is my third time serving as the chair of the Board having previously served in this capacity for the Chambers of Commerce in Roseburg, Oregon and Chula Vista, California.

I know that healthy communities start with a healthy business community.

And the Chamber can play a key role in helping the business community thrive.

Some have asked why we needed to change our name and to adopt a regional focus.

The thought of a regional focus had been on our minds since 2017 as we saw other successful Chambers broaden their perspective. And there are several examples both locally and across the Country.

It was just an idea until last spring when we separated from the Santa Clara Convention Center. When that happened, we realized how intertwined our Chamber of Commerce had become with the Convention Center. We realized that over the years we had become more focused on Convention Center management than on being leaders of the Chamber of Commerce.

Even our logo reflected the connection with the convention center.

So, as we began to look to the future, we realized that without the Convention Center, we had the opportunity to get back to doing what a Chamber of Commerce is supposed to do – and that is to focus on bringing value to our members and the business community.

It started with a new logo.

After much discussion, our Board agreed that our new logo needed to reflect a new Mission and Vision for our Chamber of Commerce.

At the same time, we began to look at successful Chambers across the state and gain a better understanding of why some where successful and others floundered.

We found that the Chambers that were successful, were the ones whose vision and actions were characterized by being both big and bold.

We took the learnings to heart, and the idea that emerged was one that was characterized by thinking big.

First, we looked at our membership and considered what is important to our businesses today. We quickly realized that in today’s world, the issues that impact many of our members don’t stop at the Lawrence Expressway or Stevens Creek.

And every one of our Board members echoed the same perspective – our customers and clients are not restricted by City Boundaries.

So, as we began to develop a new logo, we also began a discussion of a new vision statement, and then a mission statement to meet that vision.

It soon was clear which path we needed to follow.

Our logo needed to be inclusive and recognize:

Hanger 1 in Moffett Field: An iconic structure that was one of the earliest signs of innovation in our Valley.

The Mission which brought education and faith and a sense of community to our Valley.

The iconic and historically significant El Camino Bell which represents the original path connecting those early missions!

And finally, the Orchards and Valleys which sustained our communities and eventually provided the land for our great minds to build, innovate, and create.

And the Silicon Valley Central Chamber of Commerce is here to support you.

For over 70 years your Chamber of Commerce has proudly and loyally served the Silicon Valley business community.

But as the times have changed, your Chamber of Commerce has needed to evolve to meet the needs and demands of the business community – today.